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Philippine  Mission 


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METHODIST  EPISCOPAL 
CHURCH 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/philippinemissio00stun_0 


BISHOP  WARREN  AND  AMERICAN  MISSIONARIES  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES  (FALL  OF  1903) 


The 

Philippine  Mission 

OF  THE 

METHODIST  EPISCOPAL 
CHURCH 

BY 

REV.  HOMER  C.  STUNTZ,  D.D. 

Presiding  Elder  of  tile  Philippine  Islands  District 


THE  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 
OF  THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH 

OPEN  DOOR  EMERGENCY  COMMISSION 
150  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York 


PRICE,  TEN  CENTS 


THE 


PHILIPPINE  MISSION 


THE  COUNTRY 

HE  Philippine  Islands  lie  in  the  northwesl  em 
Pacific,  almost  due  south  of  the  center  of 
China,  and  noith  of  Australia.  They  form 
a kind  of  boundary  between  Oceanica  on  its 
extreme  northwest,  and  Malaysia  at  its 
farthest  northeast,  but  are  considered  an 
integral  part  of  the  Malaysian  group — Sumatra,  Java, 
Borneo  and  the  Celebes— for  linguistic  and  geologic  reasons. 
Their  latitude  limits  are  4°  41'  to  21°  north  latitude,  and  they 
stretch  through  nine  and  one  half  degrees  of  west  longi- 
Latitude  tude,  from  126°  30' to  117°.  This  apparent  width  must 
be  understood  as  being  taken  “over  all,”  for  on  none  of 
the  islands  is  it  possible  to  get  more  than  one  hundred  miles 
from  the  sea,  and  that  only  in  the  widest  parts  of  Luzon  and 
Mindanao. 

There  are  more  than  one  thousand  islands  in  the  group. 
Only  343  are  named.  Many  of  these  are  mere  jutting  rocks, 
or  spits  of  bare  sand,  named  only  that  mariners  may  avoid 
them.  In  the  governmental  control  of  the  islands,  and  in 
missionary  operations,  one  dozen  of  the  entire 
The  Islands  and  number  of  islands  practically  absorb  our  atten- 
their  Population  tion.  These  are  Luzon,  Mindoro,  Masbate, 
Panay,  Negros,  Cebu,  Samar,  Leyte,  Bohol, 
Marinduque,  Paragua,  and  Mindanao.  Of  these  Luzon  and 
Mindanao  are  the  largest,  differing  in  size  by  only  a few 
square  miles.  Luzon  is  the  most  densely  populated,  carry- 
ing 3,798,507  out  of  a total  population  of  7,635,426,  or 

5 


slightly  less  than  fifty  per  cent.  Add  to  this,  equal  fertility 
with  the  most  favored  islands  in  the  group,  and  the  pos- 
session of  the  capital — Manila — and  it  will  be  seen  that 
Luzon  is  the  most  important  of  the  many  islands  in  the 
Philippines.  Then  it  must  be  noted  that  whatever  of  Euro- 
pean uplift  was  furnished  by  Spain  was  most  powerfully  felt 


ONE  OF  THE  ENTRANCES  TO  THE  WALLED  CITY,  MANILA 


n and  near  Manila,  so  that  as  a result  Luzon  has  an  impor- 
tance in  the  destinies  of  the  Archipelago  which  cannot  well 
be  overestimated. 

The  area  of  the  entire  group  is  112,000  square  miles.  This 
gives  it  a land  surface  about  equal  to  all  New  England  plus 
the  state  of  New  York  or  Illinois,  Indiana,  and  two  thirds  of 

0 


Ohio.  Compared  with  European  states,  the  Philippines  con- 
tain as  much  land  surface  as  Denmark,  or  Switzerland  or  the 
Netherlands.  Japan  has  but  28,000  more  square  miles, 
though  it  bears  a population  six  times  as  numerous  as  the 
Area  Philippines.  With  its  high  fertility  of  soil,  its  virtual  mo- 
nopoly of  the  hemp  industry,  and  its  extensive  deposits  of 
iron,  copper  and  gold,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the 
Philippines  will  carry  a population  of  20,000,000.  This  is 
sufficient  to  give  it  place  among  the  nations  as  a power  of  no 
mean  strength. 

THE  CLIMATE 

The  climate  of  the  Philippines  is  the  most  equable  and 
healthful  of  any  portion  of  the  tropics  into  which  the  white 
man  has  yet  been  led.  It  is  a tropical  climate.  It  is  warm. 


TRAVELING  IN'  THE  RAINY  SEASON 

From  April  to  September  it  is  hot.  That  is  to  be  expected. 
But  as  the  islands  are  all  narrow,  and  as  the  entire  group  is 
surrounded  by  vast  bodies  of  water  containing  cool  currents 
from  Japan  and  farther  north,  the  temperature  is  held 
A Tropical  down  to  a level  of  comparative  comfort  the  year 

Climate  through.  The  total  thermometric  variation  in  twelve 

months  is  never  more  than  forty  degrees.  Whole 
weeks  pass  with  the  extremes  of  temperature  never  more  than 
ten  or  twelve  degrees  apart.  The  humidity  of  the  atmosphere 
makes  the  heat  somewhat  trying  during  the  summer  months. 

7 


Contrary  views  of  Philippine  climate  prevail  almost  uni- 
versally in  the  United  States.  The  soldiers  who  first  were  in 
the  Philippines  have  little  to  say  in  favor  of  the  climate. 
This  is  not  to  be  wondered  at.  They  had  no  fair  opportunity 
to  judge  it.  They  were  rushed  into  the  islands 
Americans  in  with  little  provision  for  housing  or  transportation, 
the  Tropics  They  slept  “ in  the  open,”  or  in  hastily  constructed 
barracks.  Their  food  and  water  supply  was  irreg- 
ular. They  marched  days  and  nights  in  the  sun,  through 
swamps  and  almost  impenetrable  jungles.  Of  couise  they 


A FILIPINO  FIRE  COMPANY 


became  ill.  But  where  the  white  man  can  keep  out  of  the 
sun,  and  regulate  his  food  and  water  supply,  the  climate  is 
neither  oppressive  nor  a menace  to  health.  It  is  debilitat- 
ing. Persons  from  the  temperate  zone  lose  their  red  blood 
little  by  little,  and  need  the  bracing  effect  of  at  least  one  year 

8 


out 'of  six  in  their  own  native  air.  Mr.  Benjamin  Kidd  is 
quite  right  in  saying  in  his  book , “ The  Control  of  the  Tropics,” 

“ The  white  man  in  the  tropics  is  like  a diver  under  water.  He 
needs  to  come  to  the  surface  frequently  to  breathe.”  This  l 
will  be  true  of  all  tropical  fields  while 


“A  POWWOW"  BETWEEN  THREE^MOBO  SULTANS  AND  SOME 
AMERICAN  OFFICERS 

(The  morning  after  the  American  camp  hail  been  attacked  by  unknown 
Moros  in  Mindanao) 

The  Americans  are  at  the  left,  out  of  view 


THE  PEOPLE 

The  population  of  the  Philippines  falls  roughly  into  two 
main  divisions,  each  of  which  divides  and  subdivides  into 
many  fractions.  The  principal  part  of  the  people — six 
sevenths  of  the  total — are  what  are  known  to  the  general 
public  as  “Filipinos.”  They  are  the  Christianized  descend- 

9 


ants  of  the  Malay  invaders  who  swept  into  the  Philippines 
several  centuries  ago  on  commercial  and  missionary  errands, 
some  of  them  being  emissaries  of  the  Mohammedan  faith. 
The  other  division  or  class  of  the  population  is  made 
Tribal  up  of  more  than  thirty  wild  tribes.  These  are  Negritos 

Divisions  — the  aboriginal  people  of  the  archipelago,  Igorrotes, 
Tinguianes,  Bogobos,  Moros,  and  others  less  numerous. 
These  tribes  have  never  accepted  the  teachings  of  the  Spanish 
friais,  and  have  either  rude  systems  of  idolatry  or  a degraded 
type  of  the  Mohammedan  belief. 

The  Filipinos,  or  Christianized  Malays,  show  indubitable 
evidence  of  having  mixed  blood.  The  Spaniard  and  the 


A ROAI)  SCENE  NEAR  MANILA 


Chinese  have  left  distinct  marks  in  stature,  feature,  and 
mental  characteristics.  But  so  general  has  been  this  mixture 
of  blood  that  all  are  called  Filipinos — though  the  simon-pure 
Filipino  is  hard  to  find.  Tn  stature  these  people  are  short, 
rarely  reaching  more  than  five  feet  two  inches,  and 
The  often  falling  below  that.  They  have  stiff  black  hair, 

Filipinos  the  flat  face,  and  wide  nostril  peculiar  to  the  Malay 

and  the  Melanesian.  They  are  adepts  in  all  forms  of 
cunning  and  can  deceive  the  most  wary.  A conquered  peo- 
ple, deprived  of  arms,  they  have  been  driven  to  learn  the  art 
of  defense  by  “deception.”  They  are  polite,  hospitable,  and, 
as  a rule,  law-abiding.  In  one  province  having  406,000  popu- 

10 


lation  the  American  judge  had  but  seventy-five  criminal  cases 
at  a recent  term,  and  that  represented  all  the  criminals  who 
had  been  arrested  for  all  infractions  of  the  criminal  laws  during 
three  and  one  half  months,  and  this  in  part  of  the  islands  in 
which  insurrection  and  war  had  left  its  customary  aftermath 
of  rascality  and  vagrancy.  The  mental  range  of  the  Filipino 
has  not  been  a wide  one.  He  has  a quick  memory,  but  is  not 
believed  to  have  equally  good  reasoning  powers.  He  is 
indolent.  The  climate  accounts  for  part  of  this  trait,  and  the 


SPANISH  WATCH-TOW KR  AT  MINDANAO 

tyrannical  and  unjust  government  explains  something  more. 
Revenge  is  considered  a duty,  and  disgrace  attaches  to  the 
man  who  leaves  an  injury  to  him  or  his  relatives  or  friends 
unpaid  by  injuries  enough  greater  to  leave  a balance  in  his 
favor.  Taken  altogether  the  characteristics  of  the  Filipinos 
are  such  as  to  give  good  hope  that  they  will  become  valuable 
members  of  the  world  family.  For  this  they  need  good 
government  and  education,  supplemented  and  reinforced  by 
the  pure  gospel  of  Christ. 


ll 


The  wild  tribes  present  altogether  a different  problem  to 
the  administrator  and  the  missionary.  They  are  wholly  and 
frankly  non-Christian.  Some  of  them  are  head-hunters,  and 
it  is  commonly  believed  that  cannibalistic  feasts  are  not  un 
known  among  some  of  them.  The  Igorrote  will  trade 
The  Wild  a deer  for  a dog  any  time,  and  let  you  enjoy  juicy  ven- 
Tribes  ison,  while  he  regales  himself  with  roast  dog.  The  Ne- 
gritos build  no  houses  and  live  far  from  the  traces  of 
civilization.  They  are  purely  a forest  people.  The  languages 
of  these  tribes  has  never  been  reduced  to  writing.  Indica- 
tions point  to  ultimate  extinction  of  nearly  all  of  them. 
They  will  not  come  under  the  yoke  of  civilization,  and  all 
who  do  not,  disappear  sooner  or  later.  There  is  pathos  in  it, 
but  the  law  seems  universal. 


HISTORY 

The  verifiable  history  of  the  Philippines  begins  when 
Magellan  discovered  the  Islands  in  1521,  and  Spain  formally 
set  about  their  conquest  and  occupation  in  1564.  Urdaneta, 
an  Augustinian  friar,  and  Legaspi,  a lawyer  and  soldier,  were 
at  the  head  of  the  latter  expedition.  From  that  year  Spain 
held  a firm  grasp  with  the  exception  of  two  years — -1762-176 1 
— when  English  military  force  made  her  relax  her  hold  for  a 
time.  The  record  is  known  to  the  world  in  a general  way, 
and  little  need  be  said  in  detail.  Two  evils  of  Spanish  ad- 
ministration have  borne  heavily  in  the  Philippines  as  else- 
where. They  are  named  in  their  order  of  relative  hardship. 
First  is  the  tyranny  and  corruption  of  bigoted,  un- 
Tyranny  of  pitying,  immoral  priesthood.  Romish  priests  claim 
the  Clergy  to  have  more  power  than  is  good  for  ordinary  human 
beings  to  possess.  Add  to  this  fact  that  they  were 
foreigners,  and  usually  the  most  highly  educated  men  in  the 
several  communities  of  natives  among  which  their  work  was 
carried  forward,  and  it  becomes  clear  how  entirely  possible  it 
was  for  them  to  tyrannize  over  the  poor  native  people.  With 
the  union  of  church  and  state  which  prevailed  wherever  Spain 
planted  colonies,  it  followed  that  the  Friar  was  a paid  agent  of 

12 


the  state.  In  the  Philippines  the  government  came  to  lean 
upon  him  as  its  best  agent  in  the  town  or  city  in  which  he  was 
curate  or  priest.  As  the  years  went  on  the  friar  was  given  eleven 
different  civil  functions  by  the  government  He  was  chairman 
of  all  kinds  of  municipal  boards,  and  had  a hand  in  everything 
from  elections  and  schools  to  sanitation  and  secret  service. 
He  was  the  agent  of  a tyrannical  government  in  carrying  out 
its  orders.  His  secret  report  could  be  called  for  at  any  time 
on  any  person  or  measure.  This  report  had  more  weight  in 
Manila  than  all  other  testimony  put  together.  On  the  basis 
of  these  reports  men  were  shot  or  hanged.  To  be  in  favor 
with  the  friar  was  to  live  free  from  anxiety.  To  be  in  the 


HOMES  OK  THE  COMMON  CEOCLK. 

shadow  of  his  displeasure  was  to  shiver  with  apprehension 
lest  he  strike  the  blow  that  would  shatter  home,  business,  or 
life  itself.  Some  friars  were  strong  enough  to  withstand  the 
corroding  influence  of  such  excess  of  power,  but  they  were  in 
the  minority.  As  a rule  they  went  down,  and  the  poor  sheep 
who  looked  up  to  them  as  their  shepherds  were  not  only  unfed, 
but  were  fleeced  and  killed.  Immorality  waxed  more  and 
more  open  and  unashamed.  Children  of  friars  became  recog- 
nized members  of  society.  For  every  sin  of  this  kind  some 
flock  was  tom,  some  home  felt  the  shame  and  dishonor  of  each 
lapse  from  priestly  virtue.  As  a rule  the  public  breathed 
freely  when  it  was  known  that  the  friar  had  a mistress,  for 
this  argued  greater  safety  for  the  rest  of  the  community. 

13 


Cruelty  was  meted  out  without  stint.  Men  were  haled  before 
the  friar  and  whipped  publicly  for  not  attending  divine  serv- 
ice. Interment  was  refused  to  the  bodies  of  such  as  had 
offended  this  little  community  tyrant,  either  directly  or  in 
the  person  of  their  friends,  and  the  bodies  left  to  decay  in  the 
sun.  Greed  added  its  own  peculiar  tint  to  the  lurid  glare  of 
the  picture.  Money  must  be  forthcoming  for  bapt  isms, 
Greed  of  confirmations,  burials,  masses,  weddings,  and  for  every 
the  Clergy  priestly  act  pet  formed.  If  devout  souls  built  “chapels 
of  ease,”  or  “ visitas,”  as  they  are  called  in  Spanish,  it 
cost  a tidy  sum  every  time  a piiest  went  from  the  central 
church  to  officiate  in  them.  This  sum  must  be  forthcoming  in 
cash  before  the  step  would  be  taken.  The  church  and  its  friars 
came  to  stand  for  the  most  relentless  kind  of  greed.  Immense 
churches  of  stone  and  steel  were  built  with  the  contributions 
of  a people  so  miserably  poor  that  Americans  have  no  terms  in 
which  to  express  their  poverty.  It  was  wrung  from  them  on 
every  possible  pretext,  until  rising  after  rising  proved  to  the 
government  how  fierce  was  the  hatred  which  had  been  begot- 
ten against  the  friars. 

The  insurrection  of  1896  was  directed  against  the  friars. 
Its  first  formulated  demand  was,  “Let  all  the  fiiars  be  killed 
and  their  bodies  buried  in  the  field  ot  Bagumbayan”  — the 
field  in  which  their  friends  had  been  shot  by  the  hundreds. 
The  whole  movement  aimed  to  secure  relief  from  the 
tyranny,  the  immorality  and  the  greed  of  those  who  should 
have  been  their  best  friends.  This  insurrection  was  com- 
promised in  December,  1897,  bv  the  payment  of 
Insurrections  $400,000  by  Spain  toAguinaldo  and  his  fellow  offi- 
cers, on  condition  that  they  would  leave  the  islands 
and  neither  return  nor  use  any  further  efforts  to  oppose  the 
sovereignty  of  Spain  in  the  Philippines  This  compromise 
was  spurned  by  tens  of  thousands  as  a betrayal  of  their  inter- 
ests, and  guerilla  warfare  was  rasing  when  Commodore  Dewey 
sank  the  Spanish  fleet  on  May  1,  1898.  Aguinaldo  was  per- 
mitted to  return  from  Singapore  on  condition  that  he  would 
submit  himself  to  the  orders  of  the  American  officer  in  com- 
mand. This  he  refused  to  do  when  he  was  on  land  and  among 

14 


SANTO  DOMINGO  CHUBCH,  ARCHBISHOP'S  MONUMKNT,  AND  UNIVERSITY  OF  SANTO  TOMAS.  AT  SANTA  ROSA 


the  insurrecto  forces;  and  in  February  of  1899  the  arms  of 
the  insurrectos  were  turned  against  the  Americans,  chiefly  be- 
cause of  personal  ambitions  for  place  and  power  on  the  part  of 
a few  former  leaders  of  the  insurrection  of  1896.  Instead  of 
accepting  the  sovereignty  of  the  United  States  and  giving  that 
government  time  and  opportunity  to  demonstrate  its  benefi- 
cent intentions,  a bitter  war  was  precipitated  which  could  have 
but  one  end.  On  the  Fourth  of  July,  1901,  Governor 
First  Civil  Taft  was  publicly  inaugurated  as  the  first  civil  govem- 
Governor  or,  and  since  that  date  the  organization  of  civil  rule 
has  gone  on  with  a rapidity  possible  only  to  those  of 
our  own  nation.  With  the  exception  of  some  local  trouble 
with  bigoted  and  warlike  Mohammedans,  and  the  lingering 
savagery  of  professional  highway  robbers,  the  archipelago 
is  as  well  policed  and  as  free  from  crime  as  the  average 
state  in  the  Union.  All  the  processes  of  government  go  for- 
ward with  apparent  freedom  from  friction.  Order  has  been 
evolved  from  chaos,  and  it  has  all  been  done  in  so  short  a 
space  of  time  as  to  cause  those  who  are  familiar  with  the 
Orient  to  wonder.  Within  ten  years  not  a trace  of  war  will 
be  left  on  the  face  of 

“Those  far,  fair  isles, 

Which  ocean  kept  for  her  own  joy.” 

RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS 
Bigotry  ruled  the  islands  until  the  Treaty  of  Paris  was 
signed.  It  was  a crime  to  have  a Bible.  It  was  a crime  to 
hold,  communicate  or  in  any  way  make  known  “any  doctrine 
or  teaching  contrary  to  those  established  by  the  state.” 
The  Bible  Intolerance  as  pitiless  as  that  which  Philip  the  Second 
Excluded  exercised  was  the  universal  order  prior  to  the  American 
occupation.  Imprisonment,  banishment,  or  death  was 
meted  out  to  any  and  all  who  questioned  the  perfect  truth 
of  any  part  of  the  mummery  and  superstitions  of  Rome.  The 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  sent  Senor  Lallave  and 
Senor  Castells  to  Manila  in  1889  to  distribute  the  Scriptures. 
Their  books  were  held  up  in  the  custom  house,  and  they  were 

16 


INSURGENT  OFFICERS  WHO  WERE  DEPORTED  TO  GUAM 


poisoned  in  their  hotel  within  four  days  from  their  arrival. 
Senor  Lallave  lies  buried  in  the  English  cemetery  near  Manila 
— a martyr  to  the  cause  of  evangelical  religion.  Senor 
Castells  recovered  after  terrible  agonies,  and  was  thrown  into 
prison.  After  some  months  he  was  permitted  to  leave  the 
islands  on  condition  that  he  would  never  attempt  to  return. 
The  friars  held  stubbornly  to  the  middle-age  theory  of  the 
absolute  criminality  of  religious  liberty. 


CROWD  AT  GOOD  FRIDAY  SERVICES  AT  THE  TEMPORARY 


METHODIST  CHAPEL,  MANILA 

Protestant  Missions,  therefore,  were  unknown  until  Ameri- 
can occupation.  But  as  soon  as  the  occupation  of  the  islands 
had  been  determined  upon  in  Washington,  Dr. 
New  Mission  Arthur  J.  Brown  of  the  Presbyterian  Foreign  Mis- 
Fields  sionary  Society  called  a meeting  of  the  secretaries 

of  the  different  societies  in  the  United  States,  and 
it  was  agreed  among  them  as  to  the  occupation  of  Cuba  and 
Porto  Rico  and  the  Philippines.  The  Methodist  Church, 
South,  preferred  to  enter  Cuba.  The  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  took  Porto  Rico  and  the  Philippines  as  its  share  of 
the  new  territory  thus  made  accessible.  In  common  with 
the  latter  church  the  Baptists  and  Presbyterians  proposed  to 
enter  the  Philippines,  and  some  others  indicated  a purpose 
to  do  so  at  a later  date  if  it  could  be  arranged. 

Bishop  James  M.  Thobunj,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
18 


pul  Church,  was  sent  to  the  Philippines  by  special  cable  orders 
from  New  York  in  March  of  1899.  He  reported  favorably 
upon  opening  work  in  a field  which  had  been  on  his  heart  for 
many  years.  He  preached  in  the  Filipino  Theater  in  Manila 
March  2,  1899,  the  first  sermon  delivered  in  the  Phil i p- 
Bishop  pines  by  a regularly  accredited  representative  of  any 
Thoburn  Protestant  missionary  society.  He  says  that  the  Spirit 
was  present  in  peculiar  power  as  he  declared  unto  the 
people  the  free  glorious  gospel  of  salvation  for  all  who  would 
repent  and  believe.  Several  now  in  the  Philippines  heard 
that  sermon,  and  they  refer  to  it  as  one  of  the  few  times  in 
their  lives  when  they  felt  the  power  of  God  present  in  the 
place  where  his  people  were  met  for  his  worship. 

It  was  fitting  that  Bishop  Thoburn  should  open  the  work 
of  the  Mission.  He  opened  the  work  of  the  Mission  in  Singa- 
pore, the  other  great  Malaysian  city,  under  such  special 
guidance  of  the  Spirit  as  makes  the  account  read  like  a 
twenty-ninth  chapter  of  Acts.  He  had  heard  the  cry  of  the 
oppressed  people  of  the  Philippines  and  prayed  fervently  for 
an  opening  among  them  through  which  the  gospel  might  find 
free  entrance  for  their  salvation.  Now  that  Providence  has 
blown  off  the  barred  gates  of  bigotry  and  thrown  down  the 
wall  of  intolerance  it  was  exactly  right  that  Bishop  Thoburn 
should  be  the  human  agent  to  be  used  in  beginning  the  work 
of  his  church. 

More  than  an  entire  year  passed,  however,  before  a mis- 
sionary arrived.  This  was  the  Rev.  Thomas  H.  Martin,  who 
landed  in  Manila  March  26,  1900.  He  was  followed  in  May 
by  Rev.  J.  L.  McLaughlin  and  wife,  and  later  in 
Methodist  the  same  year  by  Rev.  W.  G.  Fritz.  Rev.  Homer 
Missionaries  C.  Stuntz,  who  spent  eight  years  in  India  (from  1887 
to  1895)  was  sent  out  in  April,  1901,  as  presiding 
elder  and  pastor  of  the  church  for  Americans  in  Manila.  He 
was  accompanied  by  Rev.  W.  A.  Goodell.  These  have  been 
joined  by  others  until  there  are  now  thirteen  married  men  on 
the  field,  besides  two  single  ladies,  representing  the  Woman’s 
Foreign  Missionary  Society. 

Work  is  in  operation  among  the  Americans  in  Manila, 
19 


where  a self-supporting  church  serves  its  share  of  the  com- 
munity of  our  own  countrymen  numbering  more  than  six 
thousand,  of  whom  more  than  four  thousand  are  single  men, 
or  men  away  from  their  families.  This  church  has 
An  American  its  own  pastor,  Rev.  Geo.  A.  Miller  from  California, 

Congregation  and  is  a center  of  holy  activity.  It  seeks  and 

saves  young  men  who  would  otherwise  be  drowned 
in  the  perdition  which  yawns  at  the  feet  of  young  men  in  the 
tropics.  The  Sunday  School,  League,  and  Ladies’  Guild  of 
this  vigorous  branch  of  Methodism  have  life  and  spirit. 


AMERICAN  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  AND  MISSION 
HOMES  IN  MANILA 

Scarcely  a service  is  held  at  which  actual  results  are  not 
seen  in  the  way  of  conversions,  accessions,  or  the  accom- 
plishment of  some  end  toward  which  pastor  and  people  have 
been  striving.  The  congregation  owns  one  of  the  finest 
corner  lots  in  Manila,  and  have  a temporary  chapel  which  is 
filled  with  as  fine  an  audience  Sunday  after  Sunday  as 
any  pastor  in  Methodism  faces.  They  plan  to  erect  a 
commodious  church  soon.  The  far-reaching  influence  of  this 
work  among  our  own  countrymen  here  in  this  nerve-center 
of  Oriental  world-forces  can  scarcely  be  calculated.  The 
world  literally  becomes  the  “parish”  of  the  minister  who 
leads  this  handful  of  alert,  aggressive  members  in  their  work. 

20 


Work  is  also  going  forward  in  Chinese,  Tagalog,  Pampan- 
gan,  Ilokano,  and  the  Pangasinan  languages.  Their  work  is 
carried  forward  on  the  Island  of  Luzon,  in  Manila 
Methodist  and  northward,  that  being  the  portion  of  that  island 
Occupation  assigned  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  by  the 
Evangelical  Union  in  1901.  Seven  provinces  are 
now  occupied,  and  others  are  being  entered  as  rapidly  as 
workers  are  sent  from  the  United  States. 


WORK  AMONG  THE  CHINESE 

The  Chinese  work  is  of  great  importance.  From  the 
seventh  century  the  Chinese  people  have  left  their  impress 
upon  the  Philippine  Islands.  Very  much  of  the  commercial 
work  of  the  islands  is  in  their  hands,  and  will  probably  con- 
tinue to  be  controlled  by  them.  They  are  instinctive  traders. 
They  are  the  Yankees  of  the  Far  East.  They  are  crafty, 
Chinese  industrious,  thrifty,  enterprising.  Insult,  oppression, 
Traders  persecution,  taxation  of  the  most  grossly  unfair  kind — 
all  these  they  have  borne  under  Spanish  rule,  and  some 
of  these  he  must  yet  bear,  because  of  the  settled  hatred  borne 
him  by  the  Filipinos  whose  trade  he  captures  by  his  superior 
ability  as  a merchant.  Nevertheless  his  race  multiplies  and 
becomes  daily  more  and  more  a factor  to  be  reckoned  with 
in  the  government  and  evangelization  of  the  islands. 

There  are  49,600  Chinese  in  the  Philippines,  of  whom 
eighty  per  cent  are  from  Amoy.  Of  the  remainder,  nineteen 
per  cent  are  from  Canton.  The  Manila  total  is  27,000.  Iloilo 
has  3,000;  Cebu  has  3,000,  and  from  50  to  250  live  in  other 
large  cities,  while  no  city  or  town  is  without  two  or  more. 

With  few  exceptions  these  Chinese  are  nominal  Christians. 
For  commercial  advantage  they  have  sought  Christian  bap- 
tism. With  those  who  came  from  China  since  arriving  at 
man’s  estate  this  apparent  change  of  religious  position  is  not 
accompanied  by  any  real  alteration  of  belief.  In  such  cases 
the  Chinese  are  still  Confucianists,  in  so  far  as  religion  has 
any  place  in  their  thought.  But  many  so-called  Chinese  are 
of  the  fifth,  sixth,  and  even  tenth  generation  of  those  born  in 

21 


the  Philippines.  In  many  cases  they  are  of  mixed  blood  also, 
having  had  Filipino  mothers  in  some  of  the  generations,  but 
being  reared  as  Chinese  as  to  language,  customs,  and 
Chinese  queue.  With  these  sons  of  Filipino  mothers  the  Chris- 
Catholics  tian  religion — in  its  Roman  Catholic  form — is  all  that 
they  know.  They  believe  in  one  holy  God,  with  a 
purpose  of  redemption  wrought  out  in  Jesus  Christ,  who 
gave  himself  an  offering  for  sin  on  the  cross.  They  belief  in 


Copyright,  1903,  Fleming  II.  Revell  Company 
CHINESE  HUSBAND  ANI)  FILIPINO  FAMILY 

conscious  immortality,  and  in  all  the  other  fundamentals  of 
our  faith.  This  is  mixed  with  much  error,  as  to  the  Virgin 
and  her  intercessory  relations,  as  to  saints  and  their  miracu- 
lous power,  and  as  to  the  means  by  which  the  benefits  of 
Christ’s  death  are  made  available  for  sinners.  They  are  idol- 
aters frankly  and  without  apology,  worshiping  the  manifold 
images  of  the  Catholic  Church,  without  any  refinements  or 
sophisms  as  to  the  material  having  value  only  as  it  leads  up 

22 


to  the  spiritual.  To  them  the  image  between  the  candles  is 
the  deity  they  worship,  and  they  look  for  no  other. 

Discouraging  as  this  state  of  mind  is,  it  is  a long  stride  on  the 
way  toward  the  truth  as  we  hold  the  truth.  It  makes  these 
Chinese  a class  by  themselves  in  all  the  mission  field. 
A Unique  It  is  not  known  to  the  mission  staff  in  the  Philippines 

Condition  where  such  a situation  can  be  duplicated.  Certainly 

not  in  China,  nor  in  America,  nor  in  all  the  Malaysian 
group  of  islands  to  our  south  and  west.  It  is  a situation 
from  which  results  should  be  attainable. 

This  community  is  not  poor.  There  are  poor  among  them, 
but  the  majority  are  prosperous.  They  are  sturdily  inde- 
pendent. All  the  conditions  which  make  self-support  and 
self-propagation  possible  exist  among  them.  If  American 
workers  can  be  secured  and  thrust  into  this  unique  field  of 
opportunity,  there  is  good  reason  to  hope  that  not  only  all 
the  Philippines  will  feel  the  effects,  but  that  China  herself 
will  be  helped  through  the  conversion  and  training  of  these 
her  exiled  sons. 

Work  has  gone  forward  among  the  Chinese  of  Manila  for 
three  years,  but  not  until  last  Conference  (1904)  was  an 
American  missionary  placed  in  charge.  Rev.  E.  S.  Lyons, 
who  had  spent  three  years  in  work  among  Chinese  in  Singa- 
pore, was  appointed  to  this  hopeful  field,  and  already  the 
results  are  most  encouraging.  There  are  now  about  fifty 
members  and  probationers.  There  are  three  regular  preach- 
ing centers  in  Manila,  and  a night  school  which  is 
Special  Mis-  more  than  self-supporting,  and  from  which  five 

sionary  to  young  men  have  come  into  the  church  within  the 

the  Chinese  past  three  months.  Invitations  come  from  all  over 
the  islands.  If  we  had  a traveling  missionary 
among  the  Chinese  he  could  be  employed  all  the  time 
going  to  communities  of  these  people  where  he  would  be  more 
than  welcomed.  Mr.  Lyons  will  do  as  much  of  this  work  as  is 
possible  without  neglecting  the  central  work  in  Manila. 
With  Mr.  Lyons  and  wife  in  this  work  are  two  Chinese  helpers, 
Mr.  Ben  G.  Pay,  a graduate  of  the  Anglo-Chinese  College, 
Foochow,  China,  who  gives  such  time  as  he  can  spare  after  his 

23 


hours  ot  service  in  a government  position  are  over;  and  Mr. 
Charles  Fu,  a lad  who  had  considerable  training  under  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Lyons  in  Singapore.  At  least  two  more  American 
missionaries  should  be  provided  for  this  work — one  to  aid  in 
Manila,  and  the  other  to  “travel  the  circuit’’  of  the  islands 
looking  after  these  unshepherded  souls. 


ItEV.  E.  S.  LYONS  AND  TWO  CHINESE  FELLOW 
WORKERS  IN  MANILA 


WORK  AMONG  THE  FILIPINOS 

The  Filipino  work,  however,  will  always  demand  the  most 
men,  and  the  largest  sums  of  money.  The  Filipinos  form 
six  sevenths  of  the  whole  population.  They  hold  the  desti- 
nies of  the  Philippines  in  their  hands.  If  the  kingdom  of 

24 


SUMMER  SCHOOL  FOR  FILIPINO  PREACHERS.  MANILA,  SEPTEMHE1I.  1!HH 


God  is  to  be  set  up  in  these  fair  islands  it  must  be  through  its 
sway  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  the  Filipinos,  led  by  American 
initiative,  reinforced  by  Chinese  help  in  many  wavs,  but 
always  with  the  men  and  women  who  are  native  to  the  soil, 
forming  the  rank  and  file  of  the  army  of  spiritual  conquest 
and  moral  occupation.  Much  as  our  hearts  go  out  to  the 
wild  tribes  in  their  filth  and  ignorance  and  squalor,  we  must 
not  lose  our  sense  of  spiritual  strategy.  All  told  they 
Importance  number  less  than  700,000  of  a population  of  7,635,426. 
of  Working  They  bear  all  the  marks  of  being  decadent  races,  piti- 
Among  the  ful  as  this  sad  fact  appears.  If  they  should  prove 

Filipinos  to  be  virile  and  persist,  our  best  and  most  rapid 

means  of  reaching  them  with  the  gospel  is  to 
quickly  raise  up  an  army  of  converted,  consecrated,  anointed 
native  Filipino  disciples  from  whom  we  can  draw  forces 
for  their  evangelization.  Everywhere  there  are  Filipinos 
already  familiar  with  their  rude  and  barren  languages.  It 
is  from  them  that  we  hope  to  secure  the  recruits  necessary 
for  the  capture  of  the  wild  tribes  for  our  Lord.  • Hence  it  is 
that  our  strength  is  laid  out  in  labor  for  the  real  native  of  the 
country. 

Conditions  have  determined  our  methods.  Here  is  a 
people  thirsty  for  spiritual  waters.  Three  centuries  ago  they 
were  pirates,  living  a semibarbarous  life,  and  without  a 
knowledge  of  God.  Rome  has  done  them  this  inestimable 
good  that  she  has  led  them  to  abandon  their  rude  idolatry 
and  accept  a Christian  conception  of  life  and  the  world.  But 
the  tyranny  of  the  friars,  their  immorality  and 
Eager  for  greed,  have  made  the  leadership  of  the  only  religious 
the  Gospel  force  with  which  the}-  are  familiar  obnoxious  to  them. 

Her  forms  do  not  feed  their  souls.  Their  husks  of 
tradition  and  miracle-mongering  saint-worship  leave  the  souls 
of  her  people  hungry.  The  shallow  wells  of  truth  which  she 
has  scooped  hold  but  a mockery  of  their  need  for  spiritual 
waters  which  God  has  provided  as  rivers  to  swim  in.  They 
are  thirsty  for  water  from  wells  of  salvation.  At  least  three 
millions  of  the  total  population  will  have  no  religious  lead- 
ership unless  that  is  furnished  by  Protestantism.  And  the 

28 


SUMMER  SCHOOL  FOR  FILIPINO  PREACHERS.  MANILA.  SEPTEMHEH.  1904 


8 


God  is  to  be  set  up  in  these  fair  islands  it  must  be  through  its 
sway  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  the  Filipinos,  led  bv  American 
initiative,  reinforced  by  Chinese  help  in  many  ways,  but 
always  with  the  men  and  women  who  are  native  to  the  soil, 
forming  the  rank  and  file  of  the  army  of  spiritual  conquest 
and  moral  occupation.  Much  as  our  hearts  go  out  to  the 
wild  tribes  in  their  filth  and  ignorance  and  squalor,  we  must 
not  lose  our  sense  of  spiritual  strategy.  All  told  they 
Importance  number  less  than  700,000  of  a population  of  7,635,426. 
of  Working  They  bear  all  the  marks  of  being  decadent  races,  piti- 
Among  the  ful  as  this  sad  fact  appears.  If  they  should  prove 

Filipinos  to  be  virile  and  persist,  our  best  and  most  rapid 

means  of  reaching  them  with  the  gospel  is  to 
quickly  raise  up  an  army  of  converted,  consecrated,  anointed 
native  Filipino  disciples  from  whom  we  can  draw  forces 
for  their  evangelization.  Everywhere  there  are  Filipinos 
already  familiar  with  their  rude  and  barren  languages.  It 
is  from  them  that  we  hope  to  secure  the  recruits  necessary 
for  the  capture  of  the  wild  tribes  for  our  Lord.  Hence  it  is 
that  our  strength  is  laid  out  in  labor  for  the  real  native  of  the 
country. 

Conditions  have  determined  our  methods.  Here  is  a 
people  thirsty  for  spiritual  waters.  Three  centuries  ago  they 
were  pirates,  living  a semibarbarous  life,  and  without  a 
knowledge  of  God.  Rome  has  done  them  this  inestimable 
good  that  she  has  led  them  to  abandon  their  rude  idolatry 
and  accept  a Christian  conception  of  life  and  the  world.  But 
the  tyranny  of  the  friars,  their  immorality  and 
Eager  for  greed,  have  made  the  leadership  of  the  only  religious 
the  Gospel  force  with  which  they  are  familiar  obnoxious  to  them. 

Her  forms  do  not  feed  their  souls.  Their  husks  of 
tradition  and  miracle-mongering  saint-worship  leave  the  souls 
of  her  people  hungry.  The  shallow  wells  of  truth  which  she 
has  scooped  hold  but  a mockery  of  their  need  for  spiritual 
waters  which  God  has  provided  as  rivers  to  swim  in.  They 
are  thirsty  for  water  from  wells  of  salvation.  At  least  three 
millions  of  the  total  population  will  have  no  religious  lead- 
ership unless  that  is  furnished  by  Protestantism.  And  the 

28 


AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOL,  ILOILO 


majority  of  the  other  half  will  get  no  impulse  toward  right- 
eousness from  the  leadership  which  they  accept. 

Here  is  a people  curious  to  know  what  Protestantism  is, 
and  tens  of  thousands  of  them  eager  to  hear  and  accept 
Bibles  in  whatever  will  satisfy  their  burning  thirst.  They  are 
Demand  untaught.  They  are  credulous.  Impostors  would  find 
rich  harvests  among  them.  But  their  eagerness  to 
hear  and  to  learn  is  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  missionary 
effort.  Invitations  pour  in  from  all  sides  for  Protestant  serv- 
ices. Two  Bible  societies,  the  British  and  Foreign,  and  Amer- 
ican, can  hardly  print  translations  of  the  Word  of  God  fast 
enough  to  meet  the  demand  of  a people  who  have  been  tor- 
tured, imprisoned,  banished  or  shot  in  all  the  past  if  they  so 
much  as  secreted  a copy  of  this  Source  of  Truth  in  their  houses. 

In  the  face  of  such  conditions  there  is  but  one  thing  to  do 
as  the  main  work,  and  that  is  to  preach  the  gospel  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven,  and  to  do  this  as  rapidly 
as  possible.  The  three  watchwords  of  the  Mission  thus  far 
are  Evangelization,  Organization,  Edification.  The  govern- 
ment educates.  Free  public  schools,  taught  by  more  than 
nine  hundred  American  and  three  thousand  Filipino  teachers 
have  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  Filipino  children  study- 
ing all  the  common  English  branches.  Plainly  it  is  not  meet 
that  the  Mission  should  leave  the  demand  lor  the  Word  of  God 
and  serve  classes  in  the  school  room.  The  rising  generation 
is  being  taught.  In  the  main  it  is  being  as  well  taught 
Our  Chief  as  in  the  public  schools  of  the  United  States.  The  time 
Work  will  come,  and  will  not  be  far  in  the  future,  when  the 

Mission  must  establish  Christian  seminaries  and  col- 
leges and  training  schools  as  is  done  in  the  United  States, 
and  for  the  same  reasons;  but  not  until  the  demand  for  such 
institutions  on  the  part  of  our  own  members  is  so  strong  as  to 
insure  pupils  and  the  greater  part  of  the  support  of  the  staff 
necessary  to  carry  forward  the  work.  For  the  immediate 
present  it  is  our  plain  duty  to  evangelize  and  organize  and 
edify  these  hungry  multitudes.  And  this  we  will  do  if  God 
permits,  and  the  Church  sends  us  the  workers  and  their  sup- 
port. We  recall  the  fact  that  during  more  than  sixty  years 

30 


Methodism  in  America  gave  her  whole  strength  to  the  gigantic 
task  of  evangelization  which  confronted  her,  and  remember 
that  the  deep  and  immovable  foundations  of  all  her  great 
superstructure  to-dav  were  laid  in  those  years.  The  problem 
in  the  Philippines  has  many  points  in  common  with  that 
early  pioneer  stage  of  American  Methodism,  and  for  the  pres- 
ent at  least,  evangelism  must  be  our  great  work. 


METHODIST  MISSION  PRESS,  MANILA 


EDUCATION 

Thus  far  but  two  institutions  have  been  opened,  one  a 
Mission  Press,  which  is  the  most  powerful  single  evangelistic 
agent  employed,  and  the  Girls’  Training  School,  maintained 
by  the  Woman’s  Foreign  Missionary  Society.  The  former 
publishes  the  first  religious  newspaper  ever  pro- 
The  Mission  vided  for  Filipinos  in  their  own  languages.  This 

Press  reaches  thousands  each  month,  and  an  English 

edition  reaches  hundreds  of  American  residents  in 
the  Islands  with  religious  and  moral  helpfulness,  and  has 
already  begun  to  secure  readers  among  the  thousands  of  young 
Filipinos  who  have  been  learning  English  in  the  public  schools. 
This  latter  , field  will  widen  constantly,  and,  it  is  believed, 

31 


most  fruitfully.  Rev.  F.  A.  McCarl  was  the  first  agent  of 
the  Press. 

The  Girls’  Training  School  has  been  in  operation  a little 
more  than  one  year.  It  was  opened  by  Miss 
The  Girls’  Winifred  Spaulding,  but  ill-health  has  caused 

Training  School  her  return  to  the  home-land,  and  it  is  feared 
that  she  will  not  be  able  to  return.  Miss  Lizzie 
Parkes  is  in  charge,  and  right  vigorously  does  she  carry  on  the 
good  work.  Fifteen  of  the  members  of  our  own  church  are 
enrolled  as  students,  about  one  half  of  them  being  supported 


STUDENTS  OK  THE  OIHI.S’  Tit  A IN  I NO  SCHOOL 


by  their  parents  or  friends.  They  are  given  a thorough  course 
in  English,  and  in  the  Scriptures,  and  taught  the  rudiments 
of  music,  both  vocal  and  instrumental,  so  that  they  will  be 
able  to  help  in  the  singing  in  Sunday  school  and  League  work 
as  well  as  in  all  the  regular  work  of  the  church.  A great 
work  lies  before  this  institution.  It  needs  quarters  for  at 
least  seventy-five  pupils,  and  could  be  filled  at  once  from 
the  waiting  list  already  made  up. 

It  is  the  policy  of  the  Mission  to  put  but  one  American 
32 


missionary  in  a province  at  first,  and  charge  him  with  the 
responsibility  of  its  evangelization.  Seven  provinces  are  thus 
occupied,  the  rule  having  been  departed  from  in 
Distribution  Manila  and  Bulacan  provinces  because  of  local  rea- 

of  Workers  sons.  Each  man  lives  at  the  city  which  more  nearly 

than  any  other  commands  the  province  in  which  he 
labors.  If  possible  this  is  the  provincial  capital.  From  that 
as  a center  he  is  to  reach  all  parts  of  his  field. 

The  language  situation  presents  difficulties  of  the  most 
vexatious  nature.  Each  field  has  its  own  language.  In 
some  of  the  provinces,  such  as  Pangasinan  and  Tarlac,  there 
is  such  a mingling  and  confusion  of  tongues  as  to  make  it 
easy  to  believe  that  the  attempt  to  build  Babel  Tower  was 
made  in  central  Luzon.  The  languages  are  all  Romanized 
and  are  not  what  would  be  called  hard  to  acquire.  Spanish 
cannot  be  used  as  a medium  for  evangelism.  Not  more  than 
five  to  eight  per  cent  of  the  people  know  Spanish.  In  many 
parts  of  the  provinces  but  half  a dozen  people  in  a 
Language  thousand  could  follow  a Spanish  address.  And  to 
Difficulties  further  complicate  the  matter,  English  is  being 
taught  in  public  and  private  schools  from  one  end  of 
the  island  to  the  other.  Not  less  than  300,000  people,  old 
and  young,  are  now  studying  English.  English  becomes  the 
official  language  of  the  Philippines  January  1,  1906.  Already 
there  are  scores  of  communities  in  which  English  is  more 
generally  understood  than  Spanish.  In  the  nature  of  the 
case  it  is  the  younger  generation  which  is  studying  this  new 
language.  If  the  parents  are  to  be  reached  and  saved  it  must 
be  through  the  medium  of  their  own  tongue. 

FOUR  YEARS  OF  PROGRESS 

Some  of  the  results  of  these  four  years  of  work  may  be  set 
down  in  print.  The  larger  results  will  not  be  caught  in  the 
mesh  of  a statistical  tablet,  and  so  escape  enumeration,  but 
they  are  seen  and  felt  and  acknowledged  by  even  our  enemies. 

There  are  at  the  beginning  of  1905  about  10,000  members 
and  probationers  in  the  church,  with  three  times  as  many 

33 


adherents,  or  sympathizers  in  more  or  less  regular  attendance 
upon  our  services.  From  these  a steady  stream  of  members 
comes  into  the  church  from  week  to  week.  These  members 
are  served  by  126  licensed  local  preachers  and 
Present  Numer-  exhorters,  and  by  missionaries  from  America, 
ical  Strength  Only  eight  of  these  Filipino  ministers  are  sup- 

ported from  the  United  States,  and  they  are 
evangelists  rather  than  pastors,  working  from  city  to  city 
under  the  direction  of  the  missionary  in  charge.  All  the 


A TYPICAL  MEMBER 

others  support  themselves  in  the  calling  in  which  grace  found 
them — as  clerks,  printers,  laborers,  lawyers,  business  men,  or 
fishermen.  These  members  and  local  workers  have  built  48 
churches,  nearly  all  of  bamboo  frame  and  thatch  sides  and  roof, 
in  but  three  cases  receiving  more  than  $50  aid  from  the  Church 

34 


Extension  Society,  and  that  because  of  local  reasons.  These 
chapels  seat  about  10,000  people,  and  are  as  good  as  the 
average  homes  of  the  worshipers.  Some  have  cost  as  much 
as  $1,500  and  others  as  little  as  $100.  Where  the  cost  was  as 
low  as  $100  we  have  given  very  little  help  from  Church  Exten- 
sion funds — $15  or  $20  as  seemed  wise. 

Services  are  held  by  the  score  in  the  open  air  or  in  the 
houses  of  friendly  Romanists  or  of  our  own  members.  These 


A TYPICAI.  OPEN-AIR  SERVICE 


are  called  prayer  meetings,  or  meetings  for  Bible  study.  It  is 
hard  to  secure  an  accurate  report  of  these  meetings,  they  are 
so  spontaneous,  and  go  on  without  any  initiative  on 
Spontaneous  the  part  of  the  missionary  in  charge.  They  do  great 
Meetings  good  in  satisfying  curiosity,  disarming  prejudice, 

awakening  spiritual  interest,  and  thus  breaking  the 
crust  for  the  introduction  of  the  seed,  which  is  the  Word. 
They  also  furnish  an  admirable  school  in  which  to  call  out  and 
develop  the  talent  of  our  native  brethren.  F rom  these  informal 

35 


meetings  for  prayer  and  the  study  of  the  Scriptures  come 
candidates  for  license  as  exhorters.  Night  after  night  in 
seven  provinces  and  in  five  vernaculars  the  hymns  of  the 
church  are  sung  and  devout  prayer  meetings  carried  on  by 
humble  men  and  women  who  were  in  deep  spiritual  dark- 
ness until  one,  or  two,  or  possibly  three  years  ago. 

Self-support  is  the  undeviating  aim  of  the  Mission.  From 


A SELF-SUPPORTING  METHODIST  PREACHER  ANI)  HIS  FAMILY 


the  first  hour  of  the  Mission  until  the  present  not  one  penny 
of  the  annual  grant  to  the  Missionary  Committee  has  been 
paid  for  any  expense  connected  with  the  Filipino  work. 
Self-  Not  one  native  worker  receives  or  has  ever  received  one 
Support  dollar  or  one  cent  from  the  regular  Board  grants.  Spe- 
cial gifts  have  come  to  us  from  time  to  time,  and  from 
these  we  have  supported  a small  number  of  translators,  inter- 
preters, and  evangelists.  But  the  grant  of  the  Board  has  been 
wholly  spent  in  bringing  and  supporting  American  mission- 
aries. 

The  self-support  which  has  been  aimed  at  has  been,  so  far, 
rather  a self-support  of  voluntary  labor  rather  than  of  vol- 

36 


untary  gifts.  It  has  been  thought  wisest  to  supply  our 
churches  with  preaching  from  unpaid  Filipino  local  preachers 
and  exhorters  than  to  attempt  at  the  beginning  to  raise  up  a 
class  of  paid  laborers,  whether  that  pay  came  from  local  or 
foreign  sources.  The  example  of  English  and  American 


A FILIPINO  CIRCUIT  KIDEB 

Methodism  has  been  before  the  Mission,  and  it  has  been  be- 
lieved that  in  this  way  it  would  be  possible  to  build  up  a work 
more  nearly  indigenous  and  more  likely  to  propagate  itself  than 
by  the  use  of  the  more  conventional  method.  The  members  of 
the  Mission  have  been  a unit  in  standing  for  the  principle  that 

37 


it  is  better  to  have  a few  flowers  growing  on  their  own  roots 
than  very  many  cut  flowers  set  in  the  sand,  and  destined  to 
wither  when  the  sun  beats  upon  them. 

This  policy  makes  heroic  measures  necessary.  So  much 
must  be  left  to  untrained  local  leadership  that  it  sometimes 
appears  as  though  the  risk  is  too  great.  A place  is  visited  a 
few  times  by  the  missionary  or  native  evangelist.  Christ  is 
clearly  presented.  The  people  are  told  that  if  they  become 
Protestants  they  must  put  away  their  vices,  and  live  as  be- 
cometh  the  children  of  God.  They  are  offered  the  forgive- 
ness of  sins  on  the  conditions  laid  down  in  the  Word,  and 
after  three  or  four  visits  seekers  are  called  for.  These  are  in- 
structed, and  when  they  give  evidence  of  having  accepted 
Christ  they  are  organized  into  a church.  On  later  visits  the 
man  or  men  among  them  who  seem  to  be  natural  leaders  are 
given  license  to  exhort,  and  instructed  in  the  matter  of  holding 
services,  visiting  the  sick,  reproving  the  disorderly,  and  in 
helping  the  weak.  In  all  the  churches  men  can  be  found  with 
fairly  good,  and  often  very  good,  education,  and  leaders  are 
rarely  hard  to  secure.  Then  the  risk  comes  in.  Then  we 
must  do  as  the  apostles  did.  We  must  leave  our  Lystra  and 
our  Philippi  and  our  Thessalonica  to  the  leadership 
Native  of  untrained  men,  under  the  restraining,  comforting, 
Workers  sanctifying  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  this  con- 
dition, the  missionary  soon  realizes  something  of  the 
apostle’s  deep  meaning  in  the  phrase — “the  care  of  the 
churches  which  cometh  upon  me  daily,”  and  is  almost  daily 
doing  in  his  measure  what  the  apostle  did  under  special  in- 
spiration— sending  epistles  to  the  churches  which  he  has  be- 
gotten in  the  Lord.  But  the  Spirit  has  honored  the  method 
thus  far,  and  it  is  the  firm  conviction  of  the  brethren  who  are 
under  the  load  that  larger  success  than  that  which  has 
greeted  the  toil  thus  far  put  forth  awaits  a still  more  heroic 
use  of  the  same  method. 

Some  examples  will  make  plain  all  that  has  been  said  as  to 
methods  used. 

In  Malibay,  a city  of  something  like  5,000  people,  four  miles 
south  of  Manila,  our  brother  Nicholas  Zamora  and  Mr, 

38 


McLaughlin  began  work  in  the  autumn  of  1900.  Brother 
Zamora  bestowed  no  little  labor  on  that  work,  and  in  Decem- 
ber, 1901,  I received  more  than  200  probationers  into 
Malibay  full  connection  there,  in  an  abandoned  Catholic  chapel  in 
which  they  still  meet.  Within  a few  months  local  leader- 
ship was  brought  to  the  front,  and  help  from  Manila  cut  down 
to  a minimum.  I held  the  Quarterly  Conference  of  that  church 
on  Tuesday  evening,  November  15,  1904.  Fifteen  of  the  sixteen 
official  members  were  present,  and  the  steward  who  was  absent 
sent  word  from  his  sick  bed  of  his  deep  interest  in  the  work. 
Reports  showed  all  bills  paid,  including  three  quarters  of  the 
whole  support  of  a Filipino  local  preacher  who  is  serving  as 
pastor.  Services  are  maintained  on  Sundays  and  two  nights 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AT  MALIBAY  USED  BY  THE  METHODIST 
CONGREG  ATION 


in  every  week  in  the  congregation  and  more  than  a dozen 
prayer  meetings  from  house  to  house  are  going  on.  There 
are  about  300  members,  and  all  the  processes  of  church  life  go 
on  with  only  three  or  four  visits  each  year  from  the  mission- 
ary in  charge.  One  man  in  the  membership  plans  to  bear  the 
heavy  share  of  expense  necessary  for  the  erection  of  a new  chap- 
el to  seat  600  people.  In  Malibay  the  plant  grows  on  its  own 
root,  and  would  continue  to  grow  if  all  American  supervision 
were  withdrawn.  It  is  practically  a self-supporting  church,  and 
expects  to  support  its  pastor  wholly  from  next  Conference. 

39 


The  Tondo  Circuit  in  Manila  is  another  example  of  what  is 
meant  by  self-support  by  voluntary  labor  rather  than  by  gifts  of 
money.  This  circuit  is  in  a densely  populated  suburb  at  the 
north  end  of  the  city.  It  is  a poor  population  on  the  whole, 
Tondo  and  has  had  a decidedly  bad  reputation  for  many  years  as 
Circuit  the  home  of  ladrones  or  robbers  and  other  disturbers  of  the 
peace.  Now  there  are  nine  Methodist  chapels,  each  having 
a membership  embraced  within  this  circuit.  There  are  about 


FIRST  FILIPINO  MISSIONARIES 
Both  supported  by  the  freewill  offering  from 
the  Tondo  Circuit 

1,800  members  and  12  local  preachers  and  exhort, ers.  A 

plan  is  made  out  for  each  quarter  by  the  missionary-in-charge, 
and  these  men  hold  all  the  services,  except  such  as  the  mission- 
ary finds  time  to  hold.  The  chapels  take  up  their  own  collec- 
tions, have  their  own  treasurers,  keep  a report  of  all  receipts 
and  all  disbursements  posted  in  the  chapel  from  week  to  week, 

40 


and  have  their  accounts  audited  in  a perfectly  business-like 
manner.  Their  official  meetings  would  shame  many  of  those 
in  the  homeland.  The  interest  taken  is  steady  and  gratifying 
in  the  extreme.  Such  men  as  Pedro  Castro,  the  senior  local 
preacher,  Moises  Buson,  Juan  Alpa,  and  others  would  do 
credit  to  any  church  as  official  members.  This  circuit  has 
organized  a society  for  carrying  forward  the  gospel  in  regions 
where  Christ  has  not  been  named,  and  are  supporting  two  of 
their  own  number  as  evangelists  under  the  direction  of  the 
Mission.  They  are  paying  all  their  own  bills  and  raising 
$500  missionary  money,  and  this  within  four  years  from  the 


OUR  CHAPEL  AT  MEXICO 
This  is  a theater  building  used  as  a place  of  worship 


time  they  first  found  Jesus  able  to  save.  Here  are  quick 
returns  from  the  investment  of  missionary  money.  All  that 
has  ever  been  spent  on  this  lusty  Anne  is  what  missionary 
money  has  been  required  to  support  Mr.  McLaughlin  and  wife, 
while  they  have  labored  in  that  part  of  the  city. 

Mexico  is  a city  in  the  Province  of  Pampanga.  It 
exico  has  about  16,000  inhabitants,  and  was  most  prosperous 
before  the  insurrection  and  the  war  which  followed  the 
American  occupation,  the  plague  of  rinderpest  which  killed 
eighty  per  cent  of  all  work  cattle,  and  the  plagues  of  locusts 
which  ate  up  the  crops  in  1901,  1902,  1903.  Mr.  Fritz  began 
work  there  in  1901,  having  an'eager  hearing.  By  the  middle 

41 


of  1902  he  had  received  more  than  500  on  probation.  He 
was  driven  from  the  Philippines  by  malarial  fever,  from  which 
he  had  suffered  in  South  America.  After  six  months’  interreg- 
num, during  which  other  missionaries  did  wonders  in  helping 
minister  to  these  spiritual  babes,  Mr.  W.  A.  Brown  was  put 
in  charge  of  the  work  in  the  province,  and  Mexico  fell  to 
his  care.  Two  brothers  had  built  a theater  as  a speculation. 
It  was  well-built,  and  seated  more  than  1,000  persons.  They 
have  given  that  to  the  church  as  a house  of  worship  without 
conditions,  except  that  it  shall  always  be  so  used,  and  one  of 
them  preaches  there  every  Sunday,  while  the  other,  who  spent 
some  time  in  London,  and  understands  English  very  well,  is 
our  interpreter  whenever  any  of  us,  who  cannot  speak  Pam- 
pangan,  visit  the  place.  I attended  an  official  meeting  there 
last  year,  when  it  was  announced  that  there  would  be  no 
preaching,  and  there  were  600  people  present.  Of  course  I 
preached,  and  several  souls  sought  the  Lord.  All  the  serv- 
ices of  that  church  are  maintained  by  local  leaders,  and  be- 
sides the  stated  services,  meetings  are  held  by  the  members 
every  night  in  the  week  in  the  city  and  its  barrios,  and  mem- 
bers are  being  received  steadily,  while  those  who  came  into 
the  church  at  first  are  growing  into  self-reliant,  aggressive 
workers  for  Christ.  Some  have  forsaken  us,  having  loved 
this  present  world,  but  the  majority  are  following  on. 

In  the  Province  of  Pangasinan  Mr.  Lyons  began 
Province  of  work  in  April  of  1903.  Bigotry  was  more  pronounced 
Pangasinan  in  that  province  than  in  any  other  portion  of  the 
Methodist  field.  He  had  no  members,  and  little 
sympathy.  But  such  has  been  the  blessing  of  God  upon 
his  work  and  that  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harry  Farmer,  who  have 
succeeded  him  in  that  field,  that  there  are  now  sixteen 
organized  churches  under  his  care,  with  a total  member- 
ship of  nearly  2,000.  Chapels  are  being  built  so  rapidly 
as  to  make  the  statistics  of  to-day  quite  valueless  to-morrow. 
Calls  from  eleven  large  cities  for  services  have  not  been 
responded  to  yet  because  we  lack  workers.  Many  of  these 
members  are  very  ignorant;  but  they  know  what  they 
want  and  make  all  necessary  sacrifices  to  secure  it.  At  one 

42 


service  in  Dagupan, where  Brother  Fanner  lives,  at  least  a dozen 
men  and  women  were  present  who  had  walked  twenty  miles 
over  rice  dykes,  passing  four  large  stone  Roman  Catholic 
churches  on  the  way,  and  worshiping  eagerly  in  a damp, 
poorly  lighted  basement  room,  because  there  they  heard  of 
Jesus  who  saves  men  and  women  from  sin,  and  saves  them 
so  that  they  know  and  rejoice  in  his  favor.  If  workers  can 
be  had  it  will  be  possible  to  see  10.000  members  in  that  one 
province  within  five  years,  all  worshiping  in  neat  chapels 
built  with  their  own  money,  aided  only  a little  with  funds 
from  the  home  church. 

Less  than  one  year  ago  Rev.  R.  V.  B.  Dunlap  and  wife  were 
sent  to  the  Province  of  Nueva  Ecija,  to  the  city  of  San  Isidro. 
There  had  been  some  good  work  done  there  by  Rev.  A.  E. 

Chenoweth  and  an  exhorter  of  that  place.  But  on 
Province  of  a visit  recently  I found  nearly  500  members,  in  six 
Nueva  Ecija  organizations,  and  chapels  going  up  in  three  places. 

I preached  twice  the  same  evening  in  the  city  of 
Gapan,  a neat,  prosperous  city  of  11,000  people,  and  had 
from  two  to  three  hundred  people  at  each  service,  and  a more 
devout,  eager,  inspiring  audience  could  not  be  placed  before 
a minister  of  the  gospel  than  they  formed.  Six  accepted 
Christ,  and  were  received  on  probation  at  the  two  services. 
In  all  that  work  Mr.  Duidap  has  one  Filipino  evangelist.  He 
is  not  yet  able  to  speak  the  language,  so  nearly  all  the 
preaching  is  done  by  exhorters  who  have  found  Christ  within 
the  year.  It  is  all  new.  It  is  all  electric  with  possibilities. 

Mr.  Goodell  took  charge  of  Western  Bulacan  Province  in 
1901,  when  there  was  one  organized  church  and 
Western  Bula-  thirty  members  in  his  field.  He  now  has  ten 

can  Province  organized  churches,  and  reported  788  members 

at  the  Conference  in  March  of  1903.  The  growth 
in  that  province  has  been  steady,  and  solid  rather  than  rapid 
or  sensational. 

At  Malabon,  five  miles  north  of  Manila,  there  are  over 
1,200  members  where  two  years  ago  there  were  but  300.  The 
membership  has  endured  persecution  heroically.  They  have 
five  chapels,  one  of  which  cost  $1,500.  Of  this  sum  $100  was 

.43 


given  by  a devoted  brother  in  the  United  States.  Rev.  M. 
A.  Rader  and  wife  have  seen  more  converts  added  to  the 
Lord  in  their  less  than  two  years  of  service  at  Malabon  than 
the  ordinary  pastor  in  the  settled  portions  of  the  United 
Malabon  States  sees  brought  in  during  a lifetime  of  hard  work. 

Malabon  was  a hard  place.  Police  records  bore  swift 
witness  to  its  badness.  Malabon  has  been  transformed. 
The  government  could  well  afford  to  support  the  work  there 


OUR  CHAPEL  AT  CONCEPCION,  MALABON 

for  its  direct  police  value  alone.  Christ  still  “sets  judgment 
in  the  earth,  and  the  isles  (still)  wait  for  his  law”  of  right- 
eousness and  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Rev.  B.  O.  Peterson  in  the  Province  of  Uocos  Sur, 
Ilocos  Sur  and  Rev.  W.  H.  Teeter  in  the  Province  of  Tarlac  are 

and  Tarlac  both  new  in  the  work,  and  will  doubtless  acquit  them- 

selves like  men  in  the  midst  of  multitudes  ready 
to  hear  and  be  saved. 

Remarkable  conversions,  and  these  glorious  transforma- 
44 


tions  of  character  which  the  gospel  always  produces  would 
fill  pages.  Everywhere  it  is  the  old  story  of  publicans  and 
sinners  pressing  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  while  Pharisees 
scoff  and  mock.  Gamblers  have  been  so  clearly  saved 
The  Old  that  they  are  the  most  bitter  opponents  of  the  evil.  Rob- 

Story  bers  and  other  great  sinners  have  felt  the  touch  of  Jesus 

and  are  clothed  and  in  their  right  minds.  The  whole 
story  is  like  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  in  its  record  of  salvation 
and  sanctification  of  character.  It  is  of  the  Spirit. 


SOUS  OF  A FILIPINO  METHODIST  “MANSE” 

Persecutions  have  been  visited  upon  the  converts  from  the 
first  hour  until  the  present.  This  is  to  be  expected.  The 
arguments  of  Rome  are  the  bludgeon,  the  dungeon, 
Persecutions  and  the  stake.  At  first,  persecution  took  the  easy 
form  of  wholesale  arrests  with  the  charge  that  the 
members  were  “insurrectos”  plotting  against  the  American 
government.  Investigation  proved  in  every  case  that  the 
arrest  was  made  at  the  instigation  of  Romish  priests  or  lay 
bigots,  and  they  were  not  only  set  at  liberty,  but  the  officials 

45 


who  had  caused  their  arrest  warned  that  a repetition  of  that 
kind  of  thing  would  cost  them  their  position.  In  one  case 
thirty-two  members  were  arrested  at  prayer  meeting  and 
spent  the  night  in  the  “calaboose.”  They  sang  and  prayed 
and  exhorted,  and  made  their  place  of  confinement  holy 
ground,  as  did  Paul  and  Silas  before  them.  That  arrest  and 
liberation  gave  a powerful  impetus  to  the  little  church. 

At  Hagonoy  the  city  treasurer,  a bigoted  Catholic,  de- 
liberately set  out  to  make  it  impossible  for  our  members  to 
worship  in  their  chapel,  which  was  opposite  his  house.  He 
hired  a band  to  come  into  his  yard  and  play  at  the  time  of 
services.  At  last,  waxing  more  and  more  bold  as 
A Wholesome  he  saw  that  local  authorities  did  not  interfere 

Lesson  with  him,  he  gathered  a rabble  of  more  than  fifty 

men  and  boys,  armed  with  cans  and  pans  and  all 
kinds  of  noise  producing  instruments,  and  simply  drowned 
singing,  prayer,  and  speaking  alike  in  a perfect  bedlam.  Mr. 
Goodell  took  the  names  of  the  offenders,  the  matter  was  re- 
ported to  the  attorney-general  in  Manila,  and  after  many 
delays  all  the  participants  in  the  affair  were  found  guilty 
of  a breach  of  the  peace  and  fined  as  heavily  as  the  law 
would  allow.  A more  astounded  set  of  men  could  not 
easily  be  found.  That  the  government  should  officially  in- 
vestigate such  an  offense  through  the  office  of  the  attorney- 
general,  and  that  the  court  should  fine  respectable  Catholic 
citizens  for  trying  to  squelch  a Protestant  service  was  quite 
beyond  them.  But  the  lesson  seems  to  be  learned.  Not  a 
dog  has  wagged  his  tongue  against  the  little  church  from  that 
day  forward. 

A priest  in  Orion,  Province  of  Bataan,  snatched  a New 
Testament  from  a Protestant  woman  as  he  stood  by  the  side 
of  her  husband,  who  was  in  the  last  stages  of  cholera.  He 
tore  the  leaves  all  out,  and  had  them  burned  bo- 
A Disconcerted  fore  her  eyes,  with  the  statement  that  it  was 
Priest  because  of  that  evil  Book  that  cholera  had  in- 

vaded the  pueblo  (or  city),  and  that  the  sin  of 
having  it  in  the  house  was  the  cause  of  her  husband’s  im- 
pending death,  and  much  more  of  the  same  sort.  She  had 

46 


him  arrested,  and  he  was  out  of  jail  on  a bond  of  $1,000  for 
more  than  a year,  waiting  for  his  trial.  At  last,  by  getting 
friends  to  swear  that  they  destroyed  the  Book  in  disinfection 
proceedings  (which  never  took  place  at  all!)  he  escaped 
imprisonment,  but  he  will  burn  no  more  Bibles.  He  knows 
that  he  might  not  find  others  ready  to  swear  him  out  of  such 


A COURAGEOUS  “LAY  MEMBER”  WHO  DEFIED  THE  PRIEST 

a corner  another  time,  but  putting  their  own  necks  into  the 
halter. 

The  American  authorities  make  every  effort  to  hold  the 
scales  evenly,  and  the  Mission  has  every  reason  to  be  grateful 
for  their  fairness.  They  make  mistakes  sometimes,  but  there 
is  no  ground  for  believing  that  the  authorities — American 
authorities — have  willfully  sought  to  favor  those  who  per- 
secute our  people. 


47 


NEEDS  OF  THE  MISSION 

The  needs  of  the  Mission  may  be  classed  under  two  main 
heads: 

I.  Staff,  and 

II  Plant. 

The  staff  of  American  missionaries  should  be  recruited  up 
to  twenty-five  at  the  earliest  possible  hour.  With  this  force 
we  could  occupy  all  the  really  strategic  centers  of  our  portion 
of  the  work,  and  take  care  of  the  Bible  Training  School,  which 


LOCAL  PREACHERS  AND  EXHORTERS  OF  THE  TONDO 
CIRCUIT,  MANTI.A 


has  become  a necessity.  This  addition  to  our  force  is  only 
possible  as  the  receipts  of  the  Missionary  Society  are  so  in- 
creased as  to  make  increased  grants  possible.  This  force  of 
American  missionaries  will  make  necessary  an  increase  in  the 
number  of  Filipino  evangelists  temporarily  employed,  that  is, 
imtil  local  churches  “find  themselves,”  and  become  able  to 
maintain  pastors.  There  should  be  at  least  five  more  such 
evangelists  employed  next  year,  and  as  many  more  the  year 
following.  It  costs  &250  per  year  to  support  one  of  these 
men. 


48 


The  Woman’s  Foreign  Missionary  Society  should  double 
the  number  of  their  workers  at  once,  and  provide  ten  single 
ladies  as  the  normal  staff  needed  for  the  Training  School,  a 
boarding  school  for  Christian  girls  in  each  language  area,  and 
at  least  two  women  to  do  district  evangelistic  work. 

Under  the  head  of  Plant,  the  needs  of  the  Mission  are  legion. 
A few  of  those  that  are  the  most  urgent  may  be  set  down. 

1.  Twenty  thousand  dollars  more  for  the  large  Filipino 
church  within  the  fire-limits  of  Manila.  It  is  designed  to  seat 


BISHOP  WARNE  IN  A PHILIPPINE  “QUILEZ’’ 

1,800  people,  and  can  be  filled  at  once.  The  steel  is  ordered. 
We  shall  build  as  funds  are  forthcoming. 

2.  At  least  $20,000  for  missionary  homes  in  Manila  and  the 
portions  of  the  provinces  in  which  it  is  impossible  to  secure 
decent  living  accommodation  for  our  American  staff. 

3.  Ten  thousand  dollars  as  a leverage  for  the  church  for 
Americans  in  this  city. 

4.  A Bible  Training  School  for  our  Filipino  preachers. 
Until  now  we  have  depended  upon  (o)  the  regular  courses  of 

49 


study  for  exhorters  and  local  preachers,  and  (6)  upon  a sum- 
mer institute  of  one  month,  for  the  training  of  our  Filipino 
workers.  These  will  be  continued,  but  the  time  has  come 
when  special  provision  must  be  made  for  a more  thorough 
training  for  the  few  who  will  be  able  to  profit  by  it.  This 
will  cost  from  SI 0,000  to  S15.000  for  land,  buildings,  and 
furnishings. 

Rome  has  both  staff  and  plant.  She  has  millions  of  dollars, 
worth  of  the  best  located  property,  great  churches,  large 
colleges  and  seminaries,  and  endowments  into  the  millions. 
American  priests  are  being  sent  to  the  islands — men  of  fine 
education  and  varied  experience,  and  every  effort  is  being 
made  to  defeat  the  program  of  Protestantism.  Methodism 
should  awaken  fully  to  the  possibilities,  and  lay  out  her 
strength  in  taking  these  islands  for  righteousness. 


60 


DATE  DUE 


Wr  i ’ 66 

CAYLORO 

MlNTtO  IN  U S A. 

